Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker had a speech on state of the nation

On Wednesday Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker began his speech on state of the nation by focusing on the changes in the Grand Duchy.

«Many things have changed and some things have to be changed», insisted the Prime Minister during his statement on the state of the nation.
He regretted in this context that there is the case of SREL (Intelligence Service of Luxembourg) and Bommeleeër currently tarnishing the country’s confidence. «It is certainly not a state crisis, but the state loses its credibility. Hence there is a need to reform the Secret Service and introduction of the code of ethics that applies to members of the government to prevent such episodes».

The Prime Minister remains optimistic that growth of state finance, now reduced to 0.6%, will continue in the future. In the meantime, the government will continue to invest in education, valued at 9.7 billion euros. «It is the area where the country cannot afford to save money», said Juncker. The same is for training, research and innovation.

Juncker also mentioned the secrecy in banking that currently hits the headlines. «The automatic exchange of information is not automatic. In other words, it is not a process that will come into force in 2015». Moreover, the idea is not new. The government is looking at the issue since 2000, since the time of agreements of Feira. «It goes without saying that residents of Luxembourg will not be affected by this and will continue to take advantage of bank secrecy», Juncker insisted.

«Labor law will be not, however, more flexible», Juncker insisted that he does not want to follow the example of Germany.

The Prime Minister, who is now free from his European jobs, closed his speech by announcing that he now has more time. Not to be more political, but rather more explicit.